


Puppets

by SkylaDoragono



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Angst, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Manipulations, Mind Control, Mindfuck, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2012-11-01
Packaged: 2017-11-17 12:42:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylaDoragono/pseuds/SkylaDoragono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last man standing, the last man falling, tangled in puppet strings and left to dangle at the whims of the master.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puppets

**Author's Note:**

> Made for Halloween 2012; dedicated to twilitfall on Dreamwidth, who is a horrible yet absolutely wonderful enabler, that's given me massive amounts of inspiration in the past few months. Enjoy the end results of that. <3

He could not remember the last time he made a conscious act of movement.

Most times he went about his life – or rather, whatever life had been given at that moment – moving about as natural as he would if it were not all an illusion. There would be many different lives too, most of them mockeries of the one he used to live, usually involving the abandonment of his Social Links – that seemed to be a favorite nightmare he was put though. Others were something completely different, though no less terrifying for him to play through, and some… some where a complete mockery of what his real life had been, forcing him to be something he never imagined himself to be. In reality, it _was_ all an illusion, and when those moments of life were over he would find himself in nothingness; a darkness so deep that not even his glasses could penetrate it. He could not see, he could not move, he was not even aware that he had a body anymore… and what was worse, he was not alone.

In those moments between realities, he knew she was there; he could not see her of course, but he could feel her close by. She would even touch him at times, or at least make him acknowledge that feeling he identified as "touch", whisper tender things he did not understand, though at this point he was not even sure if those were real or as fake as the realities she put him through.

One time, after making him live through a grueling reality where he had been nothing but cold and unfeeling toward his little sister, he "felt" her touching his "face", her fingers rough and bony, and probably the most realistic sensation of touch he had felt ever since that day when everything changed… when everything in his life died, leaving him alone. He stirred, or at least it felt like he did, some part of his brain acknowledging that he was trying to peer through the darkness, though he was not really able to tell if he was actually doing that. Was she even really there…?

_Why do you stay, child of man?_

…yes, yes she was. He stirred again, surprised by the question. Why did he stay?

"…didn't realize I had a choice."

It took him a moment to remember what sound and talking was like, and even when he did, it took him a moment more to recognize his own voice through his own ears. Sure, this felt real enough, but was it…?

_You had the power to leave on your own a long time ago, to best me when others could not. Yet you chose not to do so. Your choice has confounded me._

Power…? Yeah, he had power once, a long time ago. Hell, he was not even sure how long it had been since this happened; the realities she made him live had their own sense of time, some spanning minutes, others spanning months. For all he knew, he had been here for years, maybe even decades; perhaps she was doing that intentionally, watching him slowly aging until he finally died and she could claim him for herself. How was he supposed to know how death goddesses worked anyway?

"You're lying."

Besides, he knew the truth… she had made a point to show it to him time after time – after all, more than just a few of the realities ended the same way. Their bodies scattered, broken… some completely mangled, tossed about like they were just pieces of meat… or were they just laying there, the life sucked out of them by her curse? He could not remember the exact details, not after so many realities that ended in their deaths, just the important part: they were dead, most likely left to rot in the halls of Yomotsu Hirasaka, or perhaps even dangling from electrical poles in the real world. He did not know; his place in reality ended when she took him in her rotting arms, and he came to know only darkness.

_Perhaps I am… or perhaps you are so blind that not even the lies can find you…_

He wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but…

_"Narukami-kun?!"_

Suddenly he could see; she was giving him another reality to play out, though it was already different from the others. It was starting at the end, where everyone was supposed to die… but he was gazing at them, all of them alive and well and—

No.

It took him a moment to realize, but they were not all well… nor were they all alive. Naoto, or at least, what was left of her, was scattered about the floor. A steady drip of blood was coming from above him, and he looked up to see Kanji, who had clearly attempted to defend her, dangling lifelessly from the sword that had nearly cut him in half.

…and what was worse, his own arm was raised, directing the attack…

Izanagi shifted behind him, flicking his sword with such force that it sent Kanji's body flying, splitting in half on the way before finally hitting the ground in multiple pieces. He could only stare in horror at the display, feeling blood hitting him when his friend's body was ripped apart, soaking into his white dress shirt…

No…

"W-what the hell, Yu?!"

Jiraiya came flying out then, barreling into Izanagi with enough force to knock both Persona and summoner back. He hit the ground with a hiss, wincing as he felt his back protest against the impact.

"What's going on, Yu?!" Yosuke demanded. "I thought you were our friend… don't tell me you were working with _her_ the whole time?!"

…so this is the kind of reality she wanted him to play out, hunh? He felt his stomach twist as he reluctantly pulled himself up to his feet; he had seen scenarios like this so many times before, but never was it so clear as to who was ripping apart his friends. Perhaps this had to do with what she said before about his power; perhaps she was trying to prove a point, though he could not fathom for the life of him what it was supposed to be.

He did not say anything as he stood up straight, Izanagi doing the talking for him as he grabbed Jiraiya by the face, slamming his best friend's Persona into the ground. Yosuke let out a cry of pain, his hands going to his own face as Tomoe dashed forward, bull rushing Izanagi. His arm came up, swapping arcana and leaving Chie's Persona to hit air instead. Lucifer appeared behind her, and it was barely a blink before the yellow clad female warrior was ripped to shreds, disappearing in a wave of blue lined dark waves.

Chie let out a gagging sound from where she was standing, her hands going to her neck as blood began to bubble up from her throat. She fell to her knees as Yukiko screamed beside her, though she did not have the opportunity to scream for long. Lucifer turned on what remained of the group, light gathering in its arms, before it was shot out at them in massive blades. One pierced right through Chie's head, ending her suffering quickly, while another caught Rise in the leg before she could get away, sheering it clean off.

Her blood curdling scream echoed through the halls of Yomotsu Hirasaka, sending frightened chills down his spine, though it never showed on his face. Please… someone, anyone… make him stop… make her stop… he could not take this reality she was forcing on him anymore…

"Rise!" Yosuke called, before turning a glare at him. "You…! Damn you, you bastard…!"

Jiraiya rose from where he had fallen grabbing Lucifer by one of its wings and ripping it off. He hissed in pain as his Persona reared back, before swapping back to Izanagi, and the lightning spell that resulted ripped through his best friend's Persona, sending it back to the ground again. Yosuke fell as well, clutching at his chest in pain as Izanagi spun around, throwing his blade with such force that… well, he could not watch; he turned away just before the blade cleaved through Yosuke.

A faint sound drew his attention back, and he looked over to where Yukiko was cowering on the ground behind Teddie, staring at the remains of her friends with tears streaming down her face. Teddie was trying to stand brave before her, but his stubby legs were shaking in fear. Somewhere behind them, he could hear faint sobs coming from Rise as she struggled to stay conscious, even though she did not have the strength to keep her Persona active anymore.

Finally… finally this nightmare reality was almost over…

He held his hand out, and Izanagi responded, lightning raining down on all three of them. Rise fell still without so much as a whimper, but Teddie screamed, trying to protect Yukiko, the bolts shredding through his bear costume to the point where stuffing was falling out. When the elemental assault finally ended, the costume was ripped to shreds, revealing charred skin underneath, and Teddie was not moving any more…

Yukiko let out a choked sob, her shaking arms coming to wrap around the still bear. She looked up at him after a moment, unable to speak, completely horrified that he had turned on all of them like this. He found himself hesitating at her gaze, knowing that if he ended her this horrible reality would finally end and he could go back to the darkness – which was much more inviting at this point – but… Yukiko…

His hesitance allowed her to raise a shaking hand first, and Konohana Sakuya responded by raining flames down on him and Izanagi both in a glittering explosion. He hissed as pain so sharp he could almost swear it was real shot through him, and he looked down to see the skin of his hand bubbling red, almost black. Izanagi responded without even needing direction, lifting his sword from what little remained of Yosuke's corpse and bringing the blade down on her. Though he was merciful by ending her quickly, he did so by relieving her head from her shoulders, leaving it to roll until it came to a stop at his feet.

Minutes passed by slowly, though he was not completely conscious of it. There… just like all the others, this reality finally came to the end that they all did ever since she dragged him down into her darkness. He stared down at himself, noticing that his white shirt was so stained with the blood of his companions that he would have never been able to tell what color it was supposed to be. His dress slacks were not in much better shape, and he could even feel the blood soaking into his school shoes. After a moment, his gaze drifted to Yukiko's disembodied head, her eyes squeezed closed and mouth twisted into a horrible grimace, her last moment spent knowing that her death was coming and bracing herself for the gristly conclusion.

Strange… normally the reality would have faded away by now…

_Now do you see?_

He froze as her voice came to him, even feeling his heart seizing up in dread. No… this… could not be real. This wasn't reality, there was no way he could have done this…! Yet, even as he tried to deny the truth of what he was seeing, it refused to allow it to be so as time returned to the present. The chaos he had wrought had become old over the innumerable days he spent trapped in darkness, and bleeding wounds had stopped long ago, beginning to show signs of decay. Yukiko's headless expression had relaxed, the mouth hanging open loosely, half resting in the puddle of blood that had seeped out from the neck stub.

A choked sob escaped from somewhere in the back of his throat as he stumbled back, trying desperately to say that none of this was real, that the darkness would come back and claim him any minute. It never happened, though the further he stumbled back, the closer he came to being welcomed by something else. Skeletal arms wrapped around his chest once he was close enough, decaying red flesh blending in with his darkened shirt, and he felt her pressing against his backside in a lover's embrace. He stiffened at the contact, wanting to throw her off of him, though he could not quite get his shocked brain to cooperate with that desire.

_Humanity wishes for nothing more than to live on in blissful ignorance, unaware of the lies that surround them. You, of course, are no different…_

"I… no…"

He did not want this… he did not want it to be this way… they were supposed to fight together, to solve the mystery together…

…right…?

A faint calming noise came from her as she reached up, placing a gentle hand that was somehow given flesh over his eyes. He let out a shuddering breath, knowing that it was a lie obscuring his field of view, but unable to do anything about it…

_Rest beside me, child of man. Your journey has finally ended._

He could not help but notice she sounded both sad and… grateful at the same time. He wanted to know why, but it did not matter any longer. Tears fell as he allowed his eyes to close, shutting away both the truth and the lies as he slipped away into a peaceful oblivion.


End file.
